Arsenal defenders Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos both had to leave the field with injuries in the FA Cup defeat against Manchester United, adding to the injury woes that the north London giants are already facing this season. While Sokratis had to leave the pitch in the first half itself with just 20 minutes on the clock, his defensive partner Koscielny fell victim to a face injury going into a tussle with Romelu Lukaku, leaving the pitch with a bleeding ear.
Speaking about the severity of the injuries after the match, the Arsenal manager said, “I think this is not a big injury to Sokratis, it is his ankle, and Laurent Koscielny is going to the hospital to do the analysis.”
Emery added, pointing to his jaw, “Maybe he has broken here. I hope not, but we have to wait.”
The injuries could not have come at a worse time with Arsenal already having two of their first team defenders in the form of Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin sidelined with injuries that they picked up in December and January respectively. With the condition being this, the Arsenal gaffer might have to look into the January transfer market to find viable replacements for his key defenders.
Speaking about whether the injuries had an impact on the outcome of the match, the Arsenal manager said, “At 1-2 I think we were in this moment with the possibility to draw or to take the possibility to win today. But I think these injuries, above all the second injury with Koscielny, didn’t help us.”
He concluded, “Two injuries change a lot our possibilities.”
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